The present invention relates in general to the integration of a Global Positioning System or similar device with a computer system, and in particular to the location of a stolen or missing computer system or to the location of computer systems which have been allocated the same network address.
A position determining system, referred to as the Global Positioning System (GPS), has a multitude of satellites orbiting approximately 11,000 miles above the earth""s surface which are used to enable the position of a compatible receiver to be located relative to the earth. There are eight orbiting satellites in each of three sets of orbits giving twenty-four satellites in total. The longitude, latitude and altitude of any point close to earth, with respect to the centre of the earth, is calculated by determining the propagation time of signals from at least four of the satellites to the point.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,934 discloses a portable tracking system that includes one or more portable units for determining their respective locations and communicating it to another unit or to a remote telephone unit. Each unit includes a global positioning system GPS for determining latitude and longitude, a micro-computer, a cellular telephone, and a digital data to voice for converter and batteries.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,835,377 discloses a method and system for optimized material movement within a computer based manufacturing system utilizing global positioning systems. A tracking module which includes a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone chip set, and a position determination system, such as a global positioning receiver chip set, is built into each shipping container, vehicle or the like which is utilized to transport material for a computer based manufacturing system. The source and itinerary for each shipment of material, as well as a manufacturing schedule, are then loaded into the computer system which controls the manufacturing system. Periodically, the location of each shipment is then determined by querying the tracking module for a current actual location which is then compared within the computer system with a planned location, determined from the stored itinerary for that shipment. Variations in location of a selected shipment which exceed a specified amount are then utilized to initiate a variation in the manufacturing process, issue alternate shipment orders or initiate the selection of an alternate source for the material within that shipment.
As portable computers such as laptop and notebook computers have become more popular and more powerful, they have become increasingly attractive targets for theft including in the workplace of the computer""s user. Portable computers, such as the ThinkPad laptop from IBM Corporation, are designed to be easily portable and it is this characteristic which also makes them easy to steal (ThinkPad and IBM are trademarks of IBM Corporation). The main factors which make them so easy to steal is that they are relatively small and can be easily concealed in a briefcase, bag or simply carried under the arm. This results in office theft of a portable computer being much simpler than larger equipment such as personal computers.
As such thefts have become more common and more costly, an assortment of devices and systems have been proposed for securing portable computers from theft. Solutions such as password protection on BIOS, hard drive and operating system have been implemented. However, these do not provide a means for identifying the location of the portable computer after the theft has taken place.
More and more computers are being connected to networks in which they are each given an individual, unique address, such as a Transmission Control Protocol-Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) address. The idea is that the address is unique and that any communications on the network sent to that address will be responded to by only a single computer on the network which has been allocated the unique address. In the event that two computers are allocated the same address, the users of both computers having the address will experience significant difficulties in using their respective computers. Until one or other of the computers has been identified and the addressed changed so as to restore the uniqueness of the address, the usage of both computers is limited. Whilst it is possible to determine which section of a network a computer with a given unique address is connected to, in large installations this section of the network may cover an area of half a mile or more and include perhaps one or more thousands of computers.
So it would be desirable to provide a way in which the location of a computer could be tracked and the location of the computer found.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a computer system comprising: communication means for connection to a remote computer; a position determination system for determining the physical position of the computer system; wherein the communications means receives a request from the remote computer for the computer system to provide the physical position of the computer to the remote computer system via the communications means.
The present invention allows a computer system to be interrogated as to its physical location. This may be used, for example, if the computer is mislaid or stolen or when the computer has inadvertently been given the same network identifier as another computer on the network.
In a first embodiment, the communications means comprises a cellular telephone communications device. This allows the computer to be interrogated as to its position, for example, in the event of theft of the computer or if the computer is mislaid.
In a second embodiment, the connection to a remote computer is a network and the request from the remote computer is sent using the network to a computer system having a specific network identifier. This allows the computer to be interrogated as to its position, for example, in the event that the computer has inadvertently been given the same network identifier as another computer on the network. The computer or computers which respond with their position are the computer or computers with that network identifier.
In an embodiment, the network is a Local Area Network.
In another embodiment, the network is a Internet network or an Intranet network.
The invention also provides a method for determining the physical location of a computer system comprising the steps of: a remote computer requesting the computer system to provide its physical location; the computer system determining its physical position by means of a position determination system; and the computer system providing its physical position to the remote computer via a communications means.
The invention further provides apparatus for use with a control computer for physically locating one or more computers connected to a network, each of the one or more computers having a network address, the apparatus comprising: a position determination system located at each of the one or more computers for determining the physical position of the one or more computers; and communications means located at each of the one or more computers, responsive to a request from the control computer received via the network, for requesting the position determination system to provide a present physical location of the computer at which it is located and for providing the present physical location of the computer to the control computer via the network.